Opinion: 3 reasons why AJ Styles is one of the worst booked WWE Champions

AJ Styles is one of the, if not the best wrestler in the world. Many critics hail him as the Shawn Michaels of the current generation. He has won world championships in almost every wrestling promotions he's been a part of.He has won TNA World Championship, IWGP Heavyweight Championship, and WWE Championship.

The Phenomenal One is so good that WWE even allowed him to skip NXT when he made his debut for them. He has a clean win over John Cena and is currently a two time WWE Champion. The work ethic of the 41-year-old is impressive. He once flew from a live event in Chile to replace the injured Bray Wyatt at TLC the next day.

However, if one observes his current title reign, one can see that AJ Styles is treated poorly by the WWE. In this list, we analyze the reasons why AJ Style is one of the worst booked WWE champions in recent times.

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#3. Midcard treatment

The WWE championship match was the opening match of Royal Rumble 2018.

Number of times the Intercontinental championship main evented a co-branded PPV after brand split = 1

Number of times the WWE Championship main evented a co-branded PPV after brand split = 0

Even in his 300+ days reign as the WWE champion, Styles was in the main event just two times - Fastlane and Clash of Champions. Both of them were Smackdown exclusive PPVs. At Royal Rumble 2018, the WWE championship match opened the show. At WrestleMania, it was given a respectable position.

Even though the Universal Championship was absent in both Backlash and Extreme Rules, two much more inferior matches closed those shows respectively. At Hell in a Cell and Summerslam, the WWE Championship was treated like a mid-card title. It is even sadder to realize that more often than not his matches are the match of the night.

The Phenomenal One does not even get to end Smackdown nowadays.

#2. Cliched match endings

The WWE title match at Hell in a Cell ended in controversy.

Styles has had 9 televised WWE title defenses in 2018. Most of them ended in either a controversy, DQ or no results. Let us take a look at those defenses.

At Fastlane, Wrestlemania, Money in the Bank and Extreme Rules, Styles won without any shenanigans.

Royal Rumble: Styles vs. the team of Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens ended in controversy as Styles pinned Kevin Owens, who was not the legal man.

Greatest Royal Rumble: Match ended in a Disqualification

Extreme Rules: No Contest in a No Disqualification match

Summerslam: Match ended in a Disqualification

Hell in a Cell: Styles tapped out to Joe while pinning him. However, the referee did not notice it and awarded Styles the win.

#1. He is not protected even as the WWE Champion

John Cena defeated AJ Styles clean to qualify for the WWE championship match at Fastlane.

There have been many instances where the heelish WWE champion was not protected. Jinder Mahal and JBL are some names that come to mind. But they were heels and needed to lose to put over the face and earn heel heat. Styles, on the other hand, is a massive babyface.

Within the first month as the WWE Champion, he lost to Brock Lesnar at Survivor Series. He lost to the likes of Sami Zayn, John Cena, and Shinsuke Nakamura on Smackdown.

His victory against Rusev at Extreme Rules was a result of Aiden English's negligence. The Phenomenal One had to force a DQ in two instances to extend his title reign. The way he retained his title at Hell in a Cell was controversial in its own rights.

To summarize, Styles has been booked incredibly weak in most of his feuds.